For two weeks, the air was rife with the smell of
another national scandal. Chairman of the Senate
Agriculture Committee SENATOR BODE OLOWOPOROKU alleged
that Minister of Agriculture MALAM ADAMU BELLO
unilaterally awarded fertilizer contracts worth N14
billion and ripped-off the nation of N3.5 billion. The
minister said Olowoporoku was blackmailing him because
he failed to get a N1.5 billion fertilizer contract
that he tendered for. Who was telling the truth? This
is the story of a national scandal that came up short.

It was meant to be the natural successor to the two
epic corruption scandals of the year, namely the N13
billion Tafagate and the N55 million Osuji-Wabaragate
bribery scandals. However, in more ways than one, this
one came up short, far short.

Malam Adamu Bello should have been much more visible
than he elected to be. A life-long banker who found
himself in the midst of politics, he did not seem to
have made the transition to a voluble, talkative and
aggressive personality that his new calling requires.

As Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development for
more than four years now, in a country where more than
60 percent of the adult population is engaged in
active farming, he has kept a fairly low profile,
stepping out into the spotlight only when he could not
avoid it, to speak about fertilizer, locust invasion, agricultural
loans, revival of cocoa's old glory, alternative uses for cassava or
some other such issue. Not any more. For nearly a month now, Malam Adamu
Bello, Dan Iyan Adamawa, has engaged in a very public spat on the airwaves
and on the pages of newspapers with the now sacked Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Agriculture, Chief Bode Olowoporoku. It is now clear that the
conflict between the two men had a long gestation period, but it burst
into the open on Wednesday, May 4, when Senator Olowoporoku addressed the
press at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja. He said his Senate
committee had dragged the Minister to the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission [EFCC] as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other
Related Offenses Commission {ICPC]. For what? Olowoporoku made four major
allegations that day. In the next fortnight, he elaborated on some,
tactfully withdrew some of the charges, and added a few new ones.

Of the
original four charges, the first was that Minister Adamu Bello "unilaterally" awarded a N14 billion contract for fertilizer
procurement. Secondly, he said the largest chunk of the contracts went to
a company allegedly owned by an Indian national, whom he suggested was the
minister's front. Thirdly, he said the contract sum of N2,800 per
bag was inflated and that government lost N3.5 billion in a scam. Lastly, Olowoporoku alleged that another Minister imported fertilizer from Ukraine
at a "real" price of N1,500 per bag.

In time, the Senator
backed away from the charge that another Federal Ministry imported
fertilizer at a price far lower than the Agriculture Ministry's, but
he added two new charges. One was that both the Minister of State and
Permanent Secretary for Agriculture "washed their hands off"
the 2004 Federal fertiliser contract award process and denied any
knowledge of it. He also said "wretched quantities" of
fertilizer contracts were awarded to many companies who won the bid, while
a huge order was made from the "Indian" firm. What is the
truth of all these charges? Documents that have since tumbled out of the
deep vaults of the Agriculture Ministry and some other agencies of
government, as well as the accounts given by many knowledgeable persons,
now enable us to examine all these charges fairly up close. The first
charge, that the Minister unilaterally awarded a N14 billion contract, was
always difficult to believe because without Presidential and Federal
Executive Council approval, not to mention the feared Due Process
Certificate, a minister may "unilaterally" award a contract if
he so wishes but has no way to ensure payment.

Anyway, several documents
from the Agriculture Ministry now show that the Year 2004 Wet Season Fertiliser Supply Programme went through a long, delicate and very
thorough process. The ministry called for bids from prospective suppliers
sometime in late 2003 and outlined some tough conditions, including a
six-week supply period. Later on, the very tough condition that no
mobilization fees would be paid was also added. 161 firms applied in
sealed bids; the tenders were opened and analysed by a Technical
Evaluation Committee. Next, the ministry's officials undertook a Fertiliser Market Sample Survey in several parts of the country to
determine prevailing prices.

Then, the MARD officials analysed
international fertilizer market and price movements by downloading from
the Internet and calling the Fertiliser Market Bulletin, the Fertiliser
Institute, International Fertiliser Development Center and International
Fertiliser Market Advocate groups. Next, a price analysis was made, as
were recommendations, which were forwarded to the Due Process Committee. A
memo recommending 89 successful contractors for awards was then made to
the President. Chief Obasanjo was not happy; he said the contractors were
too many. In the end, though, he approved the memo, and the contracts were
signed. Due Process certificates were obtained for all of them. Most of
them have now delivered the ordered supplies of fertilizer and, to boot,
are yet to receive payments. The charge of "unilateral" award
by a minister therefore fails to stand up to the weight of documents.

The
allegation about an inflated contract sum is only a little bit trickier.
In making the charge, Olowoporoku quoted a fellow senator who said he
bought fertilizer from the open market at a price of N1,800 per bag. The
Agriculture Ministry and the Due Process Office were however convinced
that they had worked out the best price possible with a 15% profit margin
for the importer, rather than the maximum 30% allowed. So what accounts
for the price difference? When he was asked about this, Agriculture
Minister Bello said, "The Federal Government procures fertilizer at
N2,800 per bag. This is delivered directly to the states and FCT, but they
pay the Federal Government only N2,100 per bag because it is subsidized.
Then, most of the states have their own subsidy regimes. Kaduna State, for
example, resells the fertilizer to farmers at N1,600 per bag, having added
its own subsidy of N500 per bag. Now, this fertilizer is not supposed to
be diverted and sold at the open market, but we all know it happens.

Therefore, if one buys fertilizer in the open market for N1,800, it is
likely to be one of this diverted consignments". Then there was the
matter of the "Indian firms" Morris Nigeria Limited and Fertiliser and Chemicals. Between them, they got a contract to supply
40,000 metric tones of the commodity at about N1.5 billion. But the two
firms don't see themselves as "Indian" companies at all,
having been registered in Nigeria for more than two decades and having
established themselves solidly in the fertilizer business. The year 2004 wasn't even one of their best years, the two firms say. In 1993, for
example, they got a much heftier fertilizer supply contract from the same
ministry, a full decade before Malam Adamu Bello got there. Senator Bode
Olowoporoku's charge that another Federal Ministry imported
fertilizer at a price far below the Agriculture Ministry's was off
the mark because no Federal Ministry ever did so. One wanted to do so,
however. Last August, based upon the Agriculture Ministry's
encouragement to state governments to try and procure their own
fertilizer, the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] Ministry's
Agriculture Department drew up a "Comparative Price Analysis of the
Cost of Importation of Fertiliser" for 2004 wet season.

It concluded
that a metric tonne of fertilizer could be imported for N40,752, as
against the Agriculture Ministry's official contract price of
N56,000. The Agriculture Ministry responded to the MFCT's and
pointed out that the latter essentially used only four parameters, namely
FOB price, freight and insurance, 8% port charges and haulage costs to
Abuja to arrive at its very low figure. However, the Agriculture Ministry
said, a detailed analysis of the cost of a tonne of fertilizer should
include not only FOB price and sea freight but the costs of marine
insurance, Customs duty, surcharge on duty, commission on inspection
agents service of FOB, National Maritime Authority charge of freight,
cargo and ship dues payable to Nigeria Ports Authority, and cost of using
bagging facility at port, since fertilizer is usually imported in bulk.
Other costs to fertilizer importers include labour for bagging, cost of
bags, local transport within the port to warehouse, cost of warehouse for
storage including loading and offloading, Customs clearing agency fee,
shipping agency fee, handling equipment, cost of funds, including
management and commitment fees, upcountry transportation and 15% profit
margin added to the contractor.

The Federal Executive Council discussed
the matter last August and accepted that MARD's calculations were
the realistic ones. Given the seriousness of this challenge to the
Agriculture Ministry officials' integrity and professional
competence, they ought to have celebrated the victory with some strategic
media leaks, but their media-shy minister reportedly prevented that. Not
that he was not very angry with what happened; the affair reportedly led
to a hot exchange of words at the federal cabinet meeting, with President
Obasanjo having to wave many yellow cards. Apparently, Senator Olowoporoku
relied on this episode to claim that another ministry imported fertilizer
at a cheaper rate. The now defunct MFCT never did proceed with the
fertilizer imports; instead, it collected a consignment from MARD, for
which it still owes N200 million. In the wake of Olowoporoku's
allegations, a senior official in MARD said they had only themselves to
blame for allowing a major victory at Council to be so misunderstood that
it was now being presented as an indictment of their ministry.

Then there
were Senator Olowoporoku's two latter-day charges. One was that the MARD's Minister of State, Chief Bamidele Dada and the Permanent
Secretary claimed ignorance of the 2004 fertiliser contract process and
said the senior minister himself must come and explain to the Senate
Committee. Another senior official in the Agriculture Ministry doubted
that this happened. He said MARD has a standing Technical Committee on
fertilizer procurement in which most of its key officials are
participants. It also has in place a very detailed, some say cumbersome,
procedure, which lasts many weeks and involves dozens of key officers.
However, this official said, when Chief Olowoporoku raised his charges and
throughout the period when the affair lasted, senior minister Adamu Bello
stood up for the institution and the process and did not blame anyone else
for anything that happened or did not happen. Many a political head may
rather duck the missiles and leave civil servants holding the hat, this
officer said. The matter of "wretched quantities" of
fertilizer contracts awarded to the lesser contractors was also more
complicated that Owoporoku alleged.

Upon bidding, each contractor was
asked how much supply of fertilizer he had on the ground, and most had
only a few thousand tones, if at all. If the evidence was so shoddy, why
did the chairman of a Senate Committee rush with it to the press, EFCC, ICPC and the Presidency? Malam Adamu Bello had an answer; he said it may
well have to do with Chief Olowoporoku's failure to secure a
contract to supply 30,000 tonnes of fertilizer to MARD last year. The
minister said late last year, in front of many distinguished gentlemen,
including the Senate President, the Senate Leader and Minister of State
Bamidele Dada, Olowoporoku accused him of refusing to give the senator a
contract that would have earned him N200 million. Malam Adamu Bello
mentioned seven live persons who were witnesses to the sordid encounter;
but none of them has denied that the encounter took place. Olowoporoku
however denied it all. At one of his many press conferences, he said he
never applied to MARD for any contract since he became a senator in May
2003. When told about the minister's allegation, the senator said,
"They have told me of the two letters he is circulating. Let me
react that the two companies are not mine but that some members of the
public approached us for letters of assistance to the ministry. When they
approached us, it is not for me but in the service of assisting people.

They can go to the Corporate Affairs Commission and find out. I
can't really remember those [to whom] we gave letters". Is
that so? Then Senator Bode Olowoporoku's memory must be very dim
indeed. MARD officials soon tried to remind him. In December 2003, two
bulky contract tender papers were submitted to the Agriculture Ministry,
one by Bafar International Concept Limited of 5, Adepegba Street, Ilupeju,
Lagos and the other by OA-Business Associates Limited of 49, Bode Thomas
Street, Palmgroove Estate, Lagos. The former was signed by Mrs. Mercy
Olowoporoku as managing director, while the latter was signed by Adekunle
Yekini. However, on December 1, 2003---and this was the knock out punch---
Chief Olowoporoku wrote a letter, on the Senate's letter-headed
paper and in his own handwriting, to Alhaji Dan Bello, Director, Fertiliser Division, Federal Ministry of Agriculture. In it he said,
"Please be informed that we have decided to use two companies for
the bidding. They are 1] Bafar International Concept Limited 2] OA
Business Associates Ltd. We have completed the filling of the forms and
they are here enclosed. Please let the Honourable Minister get this
necessary information that we have completed forms for the 30,000 MT
[metric tones]. I enjoy your cooperation and extreme high human relations
always. Regards, Senator Dr. Bode Olowoporoku. Chairman, Senate Committee
on Agriculture".

That wasn't all. Before his election to the
Senate in the PDP landslide of 2003, Chief Olowoporoku was an active
contractor with MARD. Papers soon surfaced to show that in those days, he
executed several contracts in the name of these two companies and others.
On March 18, 2003, as the last elections neared, Chief Bode Olowoporoku
received four different contracts form MARD in the name of four different
companies for a total N23.55 million. The letters, all signed by Mrs. K.A.
Ajao on the Minster's behalf, were to managing directors of Bafar
International Concepts Limited [N7.2 million for supply of Endosulfan
insecticide]; O.A. Business Associates [N7.2 million for supply of
Endosulfan insecticide]; Pilgrimage Medica Manufacturing Limited [N6
million for supply of copper sulphate fungicide], and Abikol International
Limited [N3.1 million for supply of Endosulfan insecticide]. What's the
evidence that Chief Olowoporoku owned these companies? The day that the
contract letters were signed, he personally collected all four letters and
countersigned the ministry's file copy as having received them. Two days
later on May 20, 2003, Chief Bode Olowoporoku wrote four different letters
to the Minister of Agriculture, as chairman of the Cocoa Development
Council, one for each of the four firms, asking for 25% cash advance. It
also transpired that the Senators spat with the minister had other
less-than-altruistic motives. Early last year, the two men had clashed in
the course of the work of the National Cocoa Development Council.

The
minister was its chairman, with the deputy governors of all the cocoa
producing states as well as the many cocoa farmers associations as
members. Olowoporoku, then a private citizen, was a council member. After
his election to the Senate, he asked to continue, and was even made
chairman of the Sub-Committee on Monitoring and Evaluation. Each
sub-committee chairman was assigned a Prado jeep to facilitate his work,
and the senator rushed to collect his. Only a few months later, though, he
turned in a report to the full council, after an evaluation tour, alleging
that millions of naira worth of chemicals had been seen wasting away in a
certain Southwestern state. The matter was investigated and found to be
untrue; the minister then removed the senator from the committees headship
and replaced him with the Deputy Governor of Cross River state. Chief
Olowoporoku was also asked to return the Prado jeep. He refused, and the
matter was referred to the Police Inspector General. Soon afterwards,
several petitions were addressed to the presidency on the cocoa councils
operations. A flood of critical letters to newspaper editors also
followed. Early this year, the two men were again at loggerheads, over
money.

The Senate Committee Chairman wrote a letter to the Minister asking
for N7 million to finance a 4-day committee retreat at Lokoja or Jos in
order to brainstorm on the Agriculture Development Fund and the
Agricultural Revolution bills that were lying before the Senate.
Olowoporoku said the money was to feed, transport, accommodate and pay DTA
and daily allowances to the committee members, their personal staff and
consultants. Apparently, he never got the money. The Senate leadership had
had enough. On Wednesday last week, it unceremoniously removed Chief Bode
Olowoporoku from chairmanship of the Senate Agriculture Committee. When he
spoke to newsmen a day later, Senate President Ken Nnamani dropped broad
hints that Olowoporoku's removal had to do with the controversy that he
started, but which spectacularly backfired against him. In the banking
halls of Habib Bank, where Malam Adamu Bello was once the boss, a regional
manager heaved a sigh of relief and said;He was our managing director for
a decade. His integrity was very well known. Everyone called him Mr.
Clean. I would be very surprised if he begins to break the rules at this
stage in his eventful life.